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Crested ibises, an international preserved rare bird species, known as the “birds of good fortune”, are gorgeous and precious creature symbolizing happiness and blessings. They used to be so innocent, gentle and graceful and lived with human beings in the agrarian times as human’s loyal and adorable companions. However, when accelerating the pace of modernization and urbanization in modern time, human beings neglect the deterioration of the living environment of crested ibises. The natural habitat upon which the wild crested ibises are so dependent for their breeding, such as blue sky, clean water and tranquility, has become so hostile that they are forced to die out gradually. Recently, the discovery of the last seven wild crested ibises in Yang County, Shaanxi Province, made the endangered creature come into people’s sight again. Today, with joint efforts from Chinese and Japanese scientists, crested ibises have received increasingly conscious protection and care from human society. Therefore, the “bird of good fortune” now embraces the auspicious revitalization.

The dance drama Crested Ibises, produced jointly by Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and The Publicity Department of the CPC Shanghai Committee. The performance, themed as the preserved bird crested ibises, aims to aware people of the significance of keeping a harmonious relationship with other creatures. Through the presentation of crested ibises’ beauty, purity and grace, it reminds people to reflect on the interdependence between human beings and nature.
We sincerely hope that human beings will not only take the responsibility for their own homes, but also be the watcher for the homeland for all creatures on the earth.

Crested Ibises will provide people with the special feelings of purity and beauty, focusing on issues of environmental protection, and the relationship between human beings and nature. It appeals to the public to cherish this friend of nature forever, for the sake of that near eternal loss. Besides, it encourages the pursuit of the unyielding values of “the true, the good and the beautiful”; it warns people of the problems encountered in the development process; it advocates the ecologically friendly and sustainable development concept. Overall, the emotional resonance and ideological inspiration is what Crest Ibis is expected to bring to its audiences.

Plot Summary

Crested ibis, known as the “bird of good fortune”, is a beautiful and precious rare creature symbolizing happiness and blessings.
Centuries ago, in the agrarian times, human beings live in harmony with the crested ibis, a good friend and adorable companion.
Deep in our memory, crested ibis is a passionate bird, who would appear reserved, elegant, sacred and noble, yet also sensitive, vulnerable and occasionally distant.
At one time, the crested ibis is such a close and warm friend to us.

No one knows when these "birds of good fortune" gradually fade away from our sight.
Human beings, who are busy racing on the track of modernization and urbanization, neglect the deterioration of the living environment of crested ibis. The natural habitat upon which the wild crested ibises are so dependent for their breeding, such as blue sky, clean water and tranquility, has become ever narrower and hostile.
In the middle of the 20th Century, it is declared that crested ibis has been enlisted as an endangered species of wild nature.

In May 1981, Chinese scientists accidentally discovered seven wild crested ibis in Yang county, Shanxi province. Therefore, the "birds of good fortune" which have been declared endangered repeatedly fade in people's sight again.
Today, in China, Japan, Korea and eastern Siberia, with our increasingly conscious and careful protection, the size of population of crested ibis has been growing as an auspicious sign.
For "the unbearable lightness of being", and for what was lost in the past, let’s appeal to cherish the future forever.

Creative Team

Producer/Art Supervisor: Chen Feihua
Director of Shanghai Dance Theatre; China national first-level director; an outstanding expert of China Ministry of Culture; Member of Shanghai Political Consultative Conference; Director of Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries; Director of Chinese Dancers Association; Vice Chairman of Shanghai Dance Association; Member of Shanghai Art Education Committee; Vice President of Shanghai Art Education Association; Vice-Chairman of Shanghai Changning District Literature and Art Federation; President of Shanghai Changning District Dancer Association; Guest Professor of Sichuan Vocational College of Art, Shanghai Dance School, Dance Academy of Shanghai Theatre Academy, Shanghai Institute of Physical Education. Producer and Art Supervisor of the dance dramas Wild Zebra, Farewell My Concubine, The Red Clouds over the Horizon, Stage Sisters, Turn In To Dancing, Crested Ibises, etc. Meanwhile, Chen is also the Chinese Dance Art "Dancers of Prominent Contribution ", the excellent literary and art workers in both performing skills and moral integrity of Shanghai.

Scenarist: Luo Huaizhen
Playwright: Luo Huaizhen
Contemporary well-known playwright; Vice Chairman of China Dramatists Association; art director of Shanghai Art Creative Centre; adjunct professor of Shanghai Theater Academy; guest professor of the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts; selected as the “China's cultural celebrities and four batches of talents" by Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the CPC; enjoying special allowance of the State Council; outstanding expert at China Ministry of culture; enjoying “Outstanding Senior Creator of Kunqu Opera” title.
Major works: Huai opera, e.g. Golden Dragon and Ephemera,the West Overlord Chu; Kunqu Opera, e.g. Ban Zhao, A piece of Peach Blossom Red; Peking Opera, e.g. When Xishi Returns Yue, Lotus Lantern, Li Qingzhao; Yue opera, e.g. True and False Princes, Westgate, Green Shirt•Red Dress; Ningbo opera, e.g. Wife Lending; Henan opera, e.g. Unofficial Biography of Cao Cao, Huangmei opera, e.g. Song of Everlasting Sorrow, Peacock Flying Southeast; Sichuan opera, e.g. Li Yaxian, Hainan opera, e.g. Go to Southeast Asia, Shanghai opera, e.g. Rouge Box, etc.
Published works: anthology of operas such as When Xishi Returns Yue, 1990s; A collection of Chinese Opera Works by Luo Huaizhen (6 volumes).

Director/Choreographer: Tong Ruirui
First-level choreographer-director of China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre; distinguished choreographer-director of Shanghai Dance Theatre, selected as the “China's cultural celebrities and four batches of talents" by Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the CPC; Beijing Dance Academy Choreography Department graduate. Her works inherit the aesthetic characteristics of Chinese traditional dance, exploring the cultural metaphor of body language. Through her representative dance productions, such as dance pieces, e.g. Fan Dance in Danqing, Root Carving, Green Wind, Blue Rainy Orchid, Beauty, Deep Night, Spring-River Flower-Moon Night, Songs for Luofu, Rouged Lips, dance drama e.g. Nanjing 1937, The Earth, Goddess and the Dreamer, Let’s Dance Together, Crested Ibises, and stage productions like the Painting of Four Beauties, she has formed a typical expressive style and the extreme pursuit for aesthetic values.
Awards and honors: several gold prizes covering a diversity of national dance and dance drama choreographic competitions, for instance, Five Projects Award for Excellent Work, Wenhua Award for Excellent Work, Wenhua Award for Director, Lotus Award for Dance Drama, Lotus Award Gold Prize for Dance Epic, works selected into the national stage art quality repertoire.

Composer: Guo Sida
Extremely active young Chinese composer on today's stage. Guo’s works cover a wide range including films and television, symphony, songs, stage creations. He was awarded as the best music composer of 9th Lotus National Dance Competition in 2013. His representative works include those in memory of the 1st anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake, the National Memorial Day, the parade at the Commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and The World Anti-Fascist War, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and other national events.
Recent major works:
Musicals, e.g. Jasmine Flowers, Flowers and the Youngster, Charm from Qingcheng, Eight Tailed Cat and the Little Prince
Dance dramas, e.g. Goddess and the Dreamer, Crested Ibises, Let’s Dance Together, Strange Stories from A Chinese Studio, Blooming of Time, Wu Tian Fu Tian, A Dream in Red Mansions, Sculpturing in Time, Offering Fragrance, etc.
Films and television productions, e.g. A Dream in Red Mansions New Edition, Lady of the Empire, Kung Fu Man, the Apparition, the Forbidden City, Zou Xi Kou, Kui Ba, China, etc.

Choreographer: He Tao
Beijing Dancing Academy graduate, major in Chinese dance choreography. Currently engaged in teaching and research work of dance courses involving theoretic study, basics, repertory, and choreography course.
Awards and honors include: gold award in group A of Taoli Cup National Dance Competition Guangdong Division in 1996; Youth, and Songs of Cloud and Wind awarded second prize of Starting from East National Choreography Competition in 1999; Falling Flowers awarded the second prize of the 7th Five Provinces and One City of North China & Beijing Dance Competition in 2001; Porcelain from Shiwan awarded excellence award of youth group for creativity in Taoli Cup National Dance Competition in 2006; Nanjing 1937 awarded silver prize of “Five Projects” Wenhua Award by China Ministry of Culture in 2007; the South China Sea is My Home awarded silver prize by South China Sea Dance Flower Exhibition in 2010; the dance drama Goddess Luo awarded gold prizes of Lotus Award respectively in artwork and director in 2011.

Stage Designer: Zhang Jiwen
China National first-level designer; Director of China Stage Arts Association; researcher of the Military Stage Art Research Center.
Representative works: West Out, Wild Zebra, Spirit of Porcelain Farewell My Concubine, Red River Valley", White Lotus, Love Memorial, Red Flag Flying, Soldiers Alongside the National Flag, My Dream, Swan Lake, etc; three solo-exhibitions in the National Art Museum of China; published works include Poetry Collection by Zhang Jiwen, Painting Portfolio by Zhang Jiwen, Stage Art Design Portfolio by Zhang Jiwen; Paintings on Paper by Zhang Jiwen, etc.
Awards and honors: Academy Award in professional design by China Stage Arts Association, gold prize for stage art design in China, Wenhua Award for stage art design by China Ministry of Culture for three times, excellence award for stage art design in China Drama Festival, excellence award for stage art design in China dance joint performance, gold prize for stage art design in Lotus Award by Chinese Dancers Association.

Costume Designer: Zhong Jiani
Costume designer of Beijing Modern Dance Company; member of Chinese Fashion Association, member of China Clothing Culture Research Association, member of Chinese Stage Designer Association.
Representative works: modern dance, e.g. Feelings, Midnight Rain, Offering, Sculpting in Time; dance collection, e.g. the Earth; dance drama, e.g. Nanjing 1937, Li Yugang·Four Beauties, Let’s Dance Together, General, Five Short Stories of Lao She; ballet, e.g. the Feeling, the Color, Haze, etc.
Art experience: participated as a garment designer in the opening ceremony of the United Nation 4th World Conference on Women in 1995, the celebration ceremony on Hong Kong's return to the motherland in 1997, celebration gala on the 50th anniversary of National Day in Tian’anmen square of Beijing in 1999, celebration ceremony on Macau's return to the motherland in 1999.

Lighting Designer: Xing Xin
First-level lighting designer of National Theatre of China; outstanding expert of China Ministry of Culture，enjoying special allowance of the State Council. Xing’s designs are extensive in topics. Major works are drama Jane Eyre, Mort san sepulture, Opera Xi Shi, Su Wu, Dance drama Crested Ibises, Goddess and the Dreamer, Ningbo opera the Surrogate Woman, Sichuan opera Ripples Across Stagnant Water, Huangmei Opera the Lady from Huizhou, flower-drum opera Waiting for My Lover, Shanxi opera Fu Shan Goes to Beijing, Peking opera Rickshaw Boy, You and Me, Kunqu Opera A Dream in Red Mansions, Shaoxing opera Butterfly Lovers, Liyuan opera Melancholy Song of the Widow, Shaanxi opera Xijing Story, the Sound of Huaer On and On, Pingju Opera The Red Sorghum, child play A Journey to the West. Awards include the 9-14th Wen Hua Awards for Stage Design and Lighting Design, 2004-2010 National Theatre Culture Award, the 5th National Child Play Performance Award for Stage Design, the 3rd China Peking Opera Art Festival Excellence Award for Lighting Design, the 6-8th China Theatre Festival Award for Stage Design, and other national awards, e.g. China Art Festival Award, Five Projects Award, China Opera Society Award, China Stage Art Design Academy Award.

Makeup and Stylist: Xu Bin
Stylist in the National Ballet of China; graduated from Central Academy of Drama, major in makeup and style design; learning painting since an earlier age, now owning ten-year studying and training experience in painting; holding in-depth understanding on Eastern and Western art, including Chinese ink painting, Chinese ancient craft art, western classic art, western modern art; working as a makeup designer for dozens of musical and dramas from home and abroad.
Based on solid styling skills, combining the feminine emotional sensitivity and the delicate style of South China, the innovated and delicate style perfectly displayed in dance receive compliments by various media and critics. Honors include the excellence award in make-up and style design of National Art Institutions Outstanding Repertoire Performance by China Ministry of Culture in 2012.

Props Designer: Li Hongchao
Working as props master in Shanghai Opera House at present. Major works: dance drama The Legend of Dayu, and Goddess Luo; opera Faust, Odyssey, Aida, and Tosca; modern dance Songs of Life; dance musical Sunbird, musical the Fifth Daughter, and Water Overflow Golden Hill; theme parties City of Light, Sing for China, Weddings for Daughters in Hui’an, and Moralized Effects.